YouTube's new subscription service has one big weapon against Netflix

On Wednesday, YouTube announcedan ad-free subscription service
that will cost $9.99 a month for desktop and Android — though
Apple gets a bit of a poke with a $12.99 price tag for
iOS.

The service will be called
"YouTube Red," and an ad-less YouTube wonderland isn’t the only
thing subscribers will get.

They will also, “early next
year,” get original content from YouTube stars like PewDiePie,
Joey Graceffa, Toby Turner, and MatPat.

Content will range from shorter
videos to video series and films.

While YouTube Red is being described by some as a Netflix or Hulu
killer, the focus of YouTube’s premium content actually seems at
first glance to be fundamentally different from that on existing
streaming giants.

Let’s look at one show that was
explained in some detail on Wednesday, and stars PewDiePie,
perhaps the most iconic star in YouTube history. PewDiePie's
new series will be called "Scare PewDiePie,” and YouTube is
advertising the show as "a reality-adventure series from the
creator and executive producers of The Walking Dead" where
viewers can "experience thrills, chills and laughter as PewDiePie
encounters terrifying situations inspired by his favorite video
games."

The emphasis on reality is
important here.

One of YouTube’s main strengths
is its “personalities,” the kind of superstars who can anchor a
reality TV show just by being a stylized version of themselves.
And while these kinds of stars are prevalent on network
television, they are all but nonexistent in Netflix’s original
content.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has
always characterized “linear
TV” as his company’s
rival, not other streaming services like Hulu. He seems to think
there is room enough in the market for different niches of video
streaming services. YouTube Red is a step toward this vision of
the future.

The question will be whether
there comes a time when customers start getting tired of playing
X dollars for Netflix, Y dollars for Hulu, Z dollars for YouTube,
and on and on.

But right now, YouTube has one
weapon that guarantees it will make content that can provide
something Netflix can’t, or isn’t interested in, delivering:
personalities.